


Absence

by Irenthel



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 02:55:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14416149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irenthel/pseuds/Irenthel
Summary: It had all been so different, not so long ago.





	Absence

Jaina presses the teacup against her cheek, lets the warmth soak into her. It’s always cold out here on the plains at night, and if she’s honest with herself, very little seems to warm her these days anyway. She thinks she is too young for the biting ache in her joints, but it’s there, the result of her body making up for her mind over the course of the years.

A sigh, and she takes a sip of the tea. There’s more whiskey in here than she’d meant to pour. That’s happened a lot lately. Jaina imagines Aegwynn snatching the bottle from her, her eyebrow arched, some mix of mischief and motherly affection in her eyes.

“You drink too much,” Aegwynn would say, and then the old woman would pour it into her own glass straight, laughing to herself.

But Aegwynn is not here. The plants in her old garden are all long dead, and even the walls behind Jaina’s back are covered in dust. A little magic globe in the corner rests still in its golden frame, dully reflecting the lamplight. Jaina could cast something to make it move again. She doesn’t.

“I miss you,” she says to the room. Anduin had sent a letter, telling about how the image of her former chamberlain had appeared in the Tomb of Sargeras. Jaina had read it, and she thought so many times of responding to it, of just going. But each time, the anxiety gripped her, the shame of what Aegwynn would think of her now, of Anduin’s eternally understanding face. And she knew if she went she would break, that all that building herself up would crumble apart. So she stayed.

Jaina takes another sip of tea, lets her head spin gently with drink. It had all been so different, not so long ago. And now…

She finishes the cup in one swig, and retreats back to the bed.


End file.
